Social Commerce Hype or Advantage? (Student Paper)

Here’s a recent short student paper submitted to Social Commerce Today by Daniel Walther at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, entitled New Trends in Social Commerce: Just Hype or a Source of Sustainable Advantage?

No new insights but a useful summary of outlining some of the core components of social commerce (user-generated content (ratings and reviews)), the social graph, augmented reality, and community marketing (targeting communities, rather than demographics/psychographics).  In sum, Daniel is bullish about prospects of social commerce when they are used to mimic the store experience (augmented reality), and when they allow shoppers to friendsource advice, reviews and experiences from their online contacts (social graph).  He’s less enthusiastic about community marketing (targeting communities) and customer reviews given user skepticism over their authenticity and trustworthiness.

Social Commerce Hypes